The Movement for the Survival of Izon Ethnic Nationality in the Niger Delta (MOSIEND) has advocated regional support following Sen. Godswill Akpabio’s emergence as Senate President.

This is contained in a statement issued over the weekend by the National President of MOSIEND, Kennedy Tonjo-West, after a town hall meeting that was held in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa capital.

According to the statement, the meeting was attended by youth leaders, traditional rulers, opinion leaders, relevant stakeholders and indigenous groups drawn from different organizations in the region.

Tonjo-West said the call for support for the Senate President, who is by virtue of that position, the highest political office holder and invariably leader of the Niger Delta.

He noted that the call for support for Akpabio has become imperative due largely to the fact that the region is backward in terms of development.

He said the underdevelopment persists because Niger Deltans do not know how to support their own, but play politics of bitterness.

Tonjo-West regretted “the prevalence of witch hunt, mudslinging, unforgiveness, backbiting and pull-him-down, which has never benefited the region or its people”.

According to him, irrespective of political affiliations, it is time for the people to rally round Akpabio and play politics that will bring about regional development and community empowerment.

He noted that as people from Akpabios’s Niger Delta region, MOSIEND wants Akpabio to know that the region expects better performance.

According to him, the people expect Akpabio to perform better as a Senate President than as he did as Minister; as the people expect him to re-enact his feat as Governor of Akwa Ibom which still speaks volumes till date.

However, the MOSIEND president said he is convinced that this office as President of the Senate is his area of strength.

He expressed optimism that Akpabio will do much better in coordinating and managing the legislators to create laws that will propel unity and development of the country.

Tonjo-West said: “Senator Akpabio possesses the credentials and charisma of one that can man that office.

“We are expecting a high level of performance and show of cooperation amongst our National Assembly members irrespective of political divide.

“This solidarity is to maximize the opportunities that this administration has avowed to bring to the table in terms of policies and reforms that are germane to our national and particularly the Niger Delta regional growth.”

He said that, being the number three citizen, there is a lot of goodwill that can come to the region if the people are mature and wise enough to work together with Akpabio and attract meaningful development to the region during the tenure of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

The MOSIEND leader said: “We should not play party politics, but politics that will bring about regional development. We are confident that he will use his good office to attract development to the region.

“And we commend Tinubu for the choice of Akpabio as the President of the Senate because as we know, he possesses the mien, candour, cognate experience and the right qualities for the position he occupies.

We will benefit more and very immensely too from working with him because he has friends across divides, and the office he occupies fits him, and the Niger Delta and Nigeria at large will benefit because Akpabio is someone who likes unity of purpose and someone that doesn't bear grudges.”

SIEND also implored all ethnic nationalities to rally round Akpabio because there are good things to come, given the policy direction of the federal government.

Tomjo-West noted MOSIEND and its members have accepted Akpabio as the political leader of the Niger Delta region.

“We also admonish him to be altruistic in the discharge of the functions of his office and as well open his doors for concerns from the people of the region. Every ethnic group in the region should be treated equally, and with him, the Tinubu government is going to get more of our support.

“As a region, we should try and tolerate one another, forgive one another, and the issue of pull-him-down syndrome which the people of the region are known for should be done away with.

“It shouldn’t come up in this equation because the man, Tinubu is a serious minded person, and we believe that if we join hands with the President of the Senate, we will get the best from this government.”

“In the days ahead, we are going to fashion out programmes that will further deepen the unity of the people of the region so that we can work together and benefit from the current administration,” MOSIEND stated.

The group also urged state governors of the region, Senators, House of Reps members and all other Federal political appointees to give Akpabio the support he needs instead of running him down.

Update news